'Timing…is interesting': P Chidambaram as CBI conducts searches at his houses

P Chidambaram's tweet comes even as the central agency conducted searches at nine premises linked to his son and Congress leader Karti Chidambaram.

Updated on: May 17, 2022, 13:07:26 IST

By HT News Desk, New Delhi

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Former Union minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram claimed that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday carried out searches at his residences in Chennai and in New Delhi but “found nothing”. His tweet comes even as the central agency conducted searches at nine premises linked to his son and Congress leader Karti Chidambaram after registering a fresh case against him for allegedly facilitating visas to Chinese nationals for a project in Punjab in lieu of bribes, people familiar with the matter said.

“This morning, a CBI team searched my residence at Chennai and my official residence at Delhi. The team showed me a FIR in which I am not named as an accused. The search team found nothing and seized nothing. I may point out that the timing of the search is interesting,” P Chidambaram tweeted.

Karti allegedly received illegal gratification of ₹50 lakh for facilitating around 260 visas to the Chinese citizens so that they could work at a power project in Punjab’s Mansa, said an officer, requesting anonymity. The power project is run by a private company.

The premises searched include Karti’s residence in Chennai, and those in Mumbai, Odisha, Karnataka, and Punjab. A residence where Karti Chidambaram and his father, Congress leader P Chidambaram, live was also searched.

P Chidambaram was the Union home minister between 2008 and 2012. Visas come under the purview of the home ministry.

Reacting to the raids, Karti said he has lost count of CBI raids. “I have lost count, how many times has it been? Must be a record,” he tweeted.

P Chidambaram and Karti are also facing separate CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) cases involving INX Media and Aircel-Maxis deal.

In the INX Media case, charge sheets were filed in 2019 and 2020. The charge sheets alleged that when P Chidambaram was the finance minister, he misused his office to favour INX Media in lieu of bribes.

A charge sheet was filed against two in July 2018 in the other case alleging irregularities in the grant of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board’s approval for the Aircel-Maxis deal.

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